BY Ogalah Ibrahim

The Katsina State Government said it has so far enrolled 359,542 beneficiaries into the state healthcare contributory scheme to help reduce out-of-pocket expenditures for the retirees and their family members.

The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari disclosed this on Tuesday during the flag-off for the enrollment of another 25,982 retirees into the state healthcare contributory scheme.

Masari who said the initiative is one of the most successful reform in the Nigeria healthcare system, noted that out of the 359,542 beneficiaries, 275,922 of the enrollees are from the formal sector while 83,241 are from vulnerable population under the basic health care provision pact.

According to the Katsina Governor, his administration is bent on ensuring that no resident of the State is left behind in accessing healthcare services. Hence, the reason it provided a credible and sustainable mechanism for the pulling of resources to provide the retirees’ health care programme.

Also speaking at the ocassion, the Director-General of the Katsina State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KTSCHMA), Mohammad Tukur-Safana, disclosed that “The retiree healthcare programme is a free healthcare plan for all retirees of the local and state governments. This is a kind gesture by the state government to cater for the health of retired civil servants through the provision of basic minimum package of health services at primary and secondary levels of care.”

Tukur-Safana further disclosed that the beneficiaries of the scheme are at liberty to access their services in all the KTSCHMA accredited healthcare facilities across the 34 local government areas of the state.

The DG KTSCHMA also noted that 56,373 civil servants with 219,522 dependants, making a total of 275,795 have been enrolled since the commencement of the scheme.

As for the 83,620 beneficiaries registered into the informal sector of the scheme, Tukur-Safana said in each of the 361 political wards, the agency enrolled 231 beneficiaries under the basic healthcare provision fund.”